Robert F. Kennedy Jr., President Donald Trump’s nominee for secretary of Health and Human Services, testifies during his Senate Finance Committee confirmation hearing at the Dirksen Senate Office Building on Jan. 29, 2025, in Washington, D.C. (Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images)
WASHINGTON — Robert F. Kennedy Jr. moved one step closer to becoming Health and Human Services secretary on Tuesday after a Senate committee favorably reported his nomination to the floor.
The Finance Committee’s 14-13 party-line vote doesn’t necessarily guarantee Kennedy will receive Senate confirmation, though it signals he does have the chance despite decades of spreading false information about vaccine safety.
Louisiana Republican Sen. Bill Cassidy, who backed Kennedy in committee, said after the vote that he plans to give a speech on the floor about the nomination later Tuesday morning.
Cassidy expressed skepticism about Kennedy’s nomination last week when Cassidy oversaw the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee’s hearing.
“As someone who has discussed immunizations with thousands of people, I understand that mothers want reassurance that the vaccine their child is receiving is necessary, safe and effective. We agree on that point, the two of us,” Cassidy said during that late January hearing. “But we’ve approached it differently. And I think I can say that I’ve approached it using the preponderance of evidence to reassure and you’ve approached using selected evidence to cast doubt.”
Cassidy posted on social media following the committee vote Tuesday that he has received assurances from the Trump administration.
“I’ve had very intense conversations with Bobby and the White House over the weekend and even this morning. I want to thank VP JD specifically for his honest counsel,” Cassidy wrote, referring to Vice President J.D. Vance. “With the serious commitments I’ve received from the administration and the opportunity to make progress on the issues we agree on like healthy foods and a pro-American agenda, I will vote yes.”
‘Manifestly unqualified’
Democrats raised their concerns about how Kennedy’s confirmation would impact the country’s public health system, just before the committee voted.
Georgia Democratic Sen. Raphael Warnock said that Kennedy is “manifestly unqualified for the job he seeks.”
“We need a serious person at the helm of the HHS, an agency responsible for the health of about half of all Americans,” Warnock said. “Mr. Kennedy appears more obsessed in chasing conspiracy theories than chasing solutions to lower health care costs for working families in Georgia and to make sure that we are protected.
“The last thing we need is a dilettante dabbling in conspiracy theories at HHS.”
‘Go wild’
North Carolina Republican Sen. Thom Tillis said that he believes Kennedy will “go wild” as HHS Secretary.
“I hope he goes wild and actually finds a way to reduce the cost of health care,” Tillis said. “I hope he goes wild and instead of having the discussions that we have had for the 10 years that I’ve been in the Senate of making Medicaid work and making people on Medicaid healthier, I hope he goes wild and figures out how to do it because the status quo has not achieved much in the way of gain.
“I hope he goes wild on food safety discussions so that we can actually approve our food safety supply.”
This is a developing story that will be updated.
This post was originally authored and published by Jennifer Shutt from AZ Mirror via RSS Feed. Join today to get your news feed on Nationwide Report®.
